European drought

[joeswine]

And yet they keep building in the southwest , where is the thought pattern , to constantly over development.

 

[ratflinger]

I live in Europe. And the local government where I live has forbidden irrigation of gardens etc to conserve water because of the drought. So it is rather complicated. So irrigation is only your friend if allowed.....

I agree that Europe needs to invest in infrastructure for irrigation. But where I live this has not been a priority yet for reasons I will not get into here.

Vote them out and vote in folks that are sympathetic to small business. Does the local bank need a fresh green lawn - no, do vineyards need water - yes.

 

[ratflinger]

And yet they keep building in the southwest , where is the thought pattern , to constantly over development.

Don't get me started - there are a couple of other places where the cart is leading the horse.

 

[winemanden]

Daft question?? If every country built lots of desalination plants, what would happen to all the salt? If they buried it, we would end up with soil that would be too salty to grow anything. If they dumped it in the sea we would eventually end up with water that will be too salty for desalination. Crazy ideas maybe.

An even more contoversial thought. Which is more important? Water for irrigating vineyards or Water for drinking? Man can live without wine, but not without water.

As Balaton says, there is a lot of water in Europe, but just not now!

 

[sour_grapes]

Daft question?? If every country built lots of desalination plants, what would happen to all the salt? If they buried it, we would end up with soil that would be too salty to grow anything. If they dumped it in the sea we would eventually end up with water that will be too salty for desalination. Crazy ideas maybe.

An even more contoversial thought. Which is more important? Water for irrigating vineyards or Water for drinking? Man can live without wine, but not without water.

As Balaton says, there is a lot of water in Europe, but just not now!

The excess salt goes back into the ocean. The newly created fresh water will eventually wind up in the ocean, too, and the saltiness of the ocean will be unchanged.

 

[winemanden]

The excess salt goes back into the ocean. The newly created fresh water will eventually wind up in the ocean, too, and the saltiness of the ocean will be unchanged.

Hmm! Never thought about that.
By the way, I posted an article on irrigation onthe General winemaking forum.

 

[balatonwine]

I hope by “wasted” you mean “used wastefully” and not “left in the rivers to support fish and aquatic life”. There are may in the western US who would use every drop and the fish and environment can bugger right off.

I really mean wasted. As over development. Including watering grass areas like golf courses or similar owned by those with known "political connections".....

We need to use our water wisely and that means protecting the environment too.

I am an Ecologist (BS degree UCLA Biology department ) and a resource manager (MS Humboldt State U. department of Natural Resource Management).

Resources are being wasted by humans poorly for both humans and wildlife. We can and should be doing better.

Where I live in Hungary, the government just passed a law to allow nation wide clear cutting "for wood" to use as winter fuel (yeah.... it will not be dry and useless this year, but that is another issue). Very short term, political, decision. Will come back to haunt this country as forests provide so much more than simply being a carbon sink, but they help with the watershed (and water will become more important), local land temps, wildlife and ecological issues, and general human well being.

Sighs....

Edit : Hate to say this, but Hungarians do not dry their winter wood much. Often order and deliver logs n the fall and burn it wet. The air quality is often bad most years, and may be even worse this year.

https://stcoemgen.com/2012/12/20/the-smokeout/

 

[ChuckD]

I really mean wasted. As over development. Including watering grass areas like golf courses or similar owned by those with known "political connections".....



I am an Ecologist (BS degree UCLA Biology department ) and a resource manager (MS Humboldt State U. department of Natural Resource Management).

Resources are being wasted by humans poorly for both humans and wildlife. We can and should be doing better.

Where I live in Hungary, the government just passed a law to allow nation wide clear cutting "for wood" to use as winter fuel (yeah.... it will not be dry and useless this year, but that is another issue). Very short term, political, decision. Will come back to haunt this country as forests provide so much more than simply being a carbon sink, but they help with the watershed (and water will become more important), local land temps, wildlife and ecological issues, and general human well being.

Sighs....

Edit : Hate to say this, but Hungarians do not dry their winter wood much. Often order and deliver logs n the fall and burn it wet. The air quality is often bad most years, and may be even worse this year.

https://stcoemgen.com/2012/12/20/the-smokeout/

same here with the firewood. Those outdoor boilers are popular here. They have blower to provide air (like a blast furnace) and can burn very wet wood. I have tried to convince neighbors that evaporating water is wasting fuel but it falls on deaf ears. My firewood is split and dried at least a full year and often two. With my efficient indoor wood stove you don’t even see smoke coming from the chimney. And I burn at least 50% less wood than many of them do.

 

[meridaen]

Same here in Australia. I live near our biggest river (the Murray) and there are many people who could justify to themselves every single drop being used to irrigate farms. Luckily for us our system doesn't allow lobbyists to have much influence and the massive urban populations in Melbourne and Sydney mean the progressively minded hold much more power.

 

[joeswine]

Wish ours didn’t